{{Short description|British property developer, the co-founder (born 1945)}} {{Infobox person | name = Elliott Bernerd | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|05|23|df=yes}} | birth_place = Maida Vale, London, England | death_date = | death_place = | education = | occupation = property developer | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | known for = | boards = | spouse = 3 ex-wives | children = 2 | website = }}
'''Elliott Bernerd''' (born 23 May 1945) is a British property developer, the co-founder of the property company Chelsfield with Sir Stuart Lipton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genr8developments.com/who-we-are/chelsfield/|title=Genr8 Chelsfield Partners|access-date=2016-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006153051/http://genr8developments.com/who-we-are/chelsfield/|archive-date=2016-10-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Early life== He was born in Maida Vale, London on 23 May 1945,<ref name="Mathiason-19Sep2004">{{cite news |last1=Mathiason |first1=Nick |title=Great survivor faces threat of demolition |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2004/sep/19/theobserver.observerbusiness13 |access-date=5 March 2021 |work=Observer |date=19 September 2004}}</ref> the only child of a film producer father. His parents divorced when he was 7.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/5WD7yXhF8kXcTe9QBMyArNJLu6A/appointments|title=Elliott Bernerd - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)|publisher=}}</ref><ref name="Management Today">{{cite news|last1=Bevan|first1=Judi|title=UK: Profile - Elliott Bernerd - Property Dealer and Head of Chelsfield|url=http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/uk-profile-elliott-bernerd-property-dealer-head-chelsfield/article/409150|accessdate=6 October 2016|work=Management Today|date=1 March 1992}}</ref> He was educated at various schools, leaving Davies Tutorial College, Holland Park, at the age of 15.<ref name="Management Today" />
==Career== Aged 15, Bernerd went to work for Dorrington Investment Trust, with his heart "set on a career in property".<ref name="Management Today" />
In 1983, he began the development of Stockley Park in west London (he paid £8 million for the site; in 1988, the development sold for £365 million, of which £20 million went to Bernerd).<ref name="FUniv-Chelsfield">{{cite web |title=Chelsfield PLC History |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/chelsfield-plc-history/ |website=Funding Universe |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> In 1986, he co-founded Chelsfield, which, in 1988, bought Wentworth Golf Club for £17.7 million<ref name="FUniv-Chelsfield"/> (also reported as £20 million).<ref name="Management Today" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Tomkinson|first=Martin|date=2011-10-22|title=Profile: Just par for his course: For Elliott Bernerd, acquiring the Wentworth golf club marked another great round in a career of spectacular deals|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/profile-just-par-for-his-course-for-elliott-bernerd-acquiring-the-wentworth-golf-club-marked-another-great-round-in-a-career-of-spectacular-deals-martin-tomkinson-reports-1556806.html|access-date=2021-02-18|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> Bernerd sold 40% of the club to Japanese investors, raising £32 million, in 1989.<ref name="FUniv-Chelsfield"/> In 2004, Chelsfield sold the remaining 60% share, as Richard Caring bought the club for £130 million.<ref name="Subramanian-02Mar2021">{{cite news |last1=Subramanian |first1=Samanth |title=The rich vs the very, very rich: the Wentworth golf club rebellion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/mar/02/wentworth-golf-club-reignwood-yan-bin |access-date=5 March 2021 |work=Guardian |date=2 March 2021}}</ref>
In 1993, Chelsfield acquired the Merry Hill Shopping Centre project, putting up £35 million, alongside £120 million from a group of Saudi Arabian investors (from whom Bernerd received a £6 million finder's fee). Chelsfield later bought out the Saudi investors.<ref name="FUniv-Chelsfield"/> By 2004, Merry Hill's value was close to £2 billion.<ref name="Mathiason-19Sep2004"/>
In 2008, the Qatar Investment Authority purchased a 20% stake in Bernerd's property group, Chelsfield, which owned London's Camden Market.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/chelsfield-qatar-idUSLS29061020080928|title=Qataris buy 20 pct of UK property firm Chelsfield|date=28 September 2016|publisher=|newspaper=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-15|title=Elliott Bernerd kicks off takeover battle for Chelsfield|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/elliott-bernerd-kicks-off-takeover-battle-for-chelsfield-91942.html|access-date=2021-02-18|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>
According to Institutional Investor, Bernerd was a client of a Jersey-based offshore trust company La Hougue which engaged in tax minimisation through legal as well as illegal loopholes and other avoidance measures.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Leah McGrath |title=The Heiress, the Queen, and the Trillion-Dollar Tax Shelter |url=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1qwpnk6j1zv70/The-Heiress-the-Queen-and-the-Trillion-Dollar-Tax-Shelter |website=Institutional Investor |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref>
==Personal life== He had two adult daughters with his ex-wife, from whom he was divorced sometime before 1992.<ref name="Management Today" /> His daughter Tara Bernerd is a London-based interior designer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/top100/tara-bernerd/|title=Tara Bernerd - House & Garden 100 Leading Interior Designers|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/home-garden/interiors/design-news/exclusive-video-feature-my-design-london-interior-designer-tara-bernerd-33442.html|title=Exclusive video feature: My Design London - Interior designer, Tara Bernerd|date=15 April 2014|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Murison|first=Krissi|title=Tara Bernerd interview: designer to the super-rich on modern luxe|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/article/tara-bernerd-interview-designer-to-the-super-rich-on-modern-luxe-sunday-times-rich-list-hcvxk2vkt|access-date=2020-11-27|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
In 1993, Bernerd was living in Surrey, with his third wife.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/profile-an-ear-for-music-and-an-eye-for-a-monument-elliott-bernerd-as-chelsfield-heads-for-market-1465511.html|title=Profile: An ear for music and an eye for a monument: Elliott Bernerd|website=Independent.co.uk |date=5 December 1993|publisher=}}</ref>
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernerd, Elliott}} Category:1945 births Category:British businesspeople Category:Living people